Willie Geist Biography
Willie Geist is a journalist and television personality from the United States. He co-hosts MSNBC’s Morning Joe and co-hosts Sunday Today with Willie Geist. Geist is also a regular fill-in anchor on both the weekday and weekend editions of Today.
How old is Willie Geist? – Age
He is 46 years old as of 3 May 2021. He was born in 1975 in Evanston, Illinois, United States. His real name is William Russell Geist.
Where did Christina Geist go to College? – Education
In Ridgewood, New Jersey, he attended George Washington Middle School. Geist earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and French from Vanderbilt University in 1997, where he was an editor of the school newspaper, The Vanderbilt Hustler. He was elected to the National Honor Society and New Jersey Boys State.
Willie Geist Family
He is the son of Bill Geist, a newspaper columnist and broadcast journalist, and Jody Geist, a social worker. He is the older brother of Libby Geist Wildes, the Academy Award-winning producer of O.J.: Made in America and The Last Dance. He is the great-grandson of Herbie Lewis, a former Detroit Red Wings star and Hockey Hall of Famer.
Who is Willie Geist’s Wife?
At George Washington Middle School in Ridgewood, New Jersey, he met his future wife, Christina Sharkey. They met at Ridgewood High School, where he was captain of both the basketball and football teams, winning the state football championship in 1991. Geist married Christina in Humacao, Puerto Rico, on May 24, 2003. The couple has two children: a daughter named Lucie Joy and a son named George William. He is a free thinker.
Willie Geist Illness
After disclosing his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, TV journalist Bill enlisted the help of his son, Willie, to raise awareness about the progressive movement disorder. A diagnosis of a progressive neurologic condition would be considered big family news in most households. When Bill Geist, a former CBS Sunday Morning correspondent and best-selling author, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1992, he and his wife, Jody Lewis Geist, kept the diagnosis from their children, Willie and Libby, for more than ten years.
How much money does Willie Geist Earn?
He earns an annual salary of $5 million.
Willie Geist Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $14 Million.
Willie Geist Career
Geist began his career as an editor and producer for CNN Sports Illustrated before moving on to become a field producer and reporter for CNN Sports, where he covered the Super Bowl, the NCAA Final Four, and The Masters.
Geist started filling in as a co-host on MSNBC’s 6–9 a.m. morning show almost immediately after Don Imus was fired in late April 2007. In September 2007, Geist, Joe Scarborough, and Mika Brzezinski were named permanent co-hosts of Morning Joe. Geist began hosting his own 30-minute show Way Too Early with Willie Geist in late July 2009, which airs at 5:30 a.m., immediately before Morning Joe on MSNBC. He began filling in for Matt Lauer as host of the Today Show and as the show’s newsreader in 2010. Geist joined Today as an official co-host in November 2012 and left Way Too Soon. Geist was named the sole host of the new Sunday Today, which debuted in April of 2016. Since 2010, Geist has also contributed to NBC Sports and NBC News’ coverage of every Olympic Games.
On the morning of June 12, 2016, Geist was the sole anchor of NBC’s hours-long coverage of the Orlando nightclub shooting. Geist was on the air for seven hours in a row in an NBC News Special Report that aired across the country. Geist and Sunday TODAY were honored with the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award on August 4, 2019, the morning after mass shootings in El Paso, TX and Dayton, OH.
In addition to his political interviews on Morning Joe during the week, Geist has established himself as a respected long-form profile interviewer of the world’s biggest celebrities on Sunday TODAY. He hosts the popular Sunday Sitdown podcast, which includes unedited full-length versions of his Sunday TODAY television profile interviews. Willie Geist later voiced Sum opposite Al Roker’s Dim in Kung Fu Panda 3, where their characters are twin panda brothers related to Po, and has appeared in several other films and television shows.
He appears on Andy Cohen’s late-night Bravo show “Watch What Happens Live” on a regular basis, where he is frequently paired with a Real Housewife. He was featured in People magazine’s “Sexiest Men Alive” issue twice, in 2012 and 2017. During SNL’s sketches about Morning Joe, cast member Mikey Day impersonates Geist.